The more leveraged you are the more vulnerable you are to market collapse like in 2008. 

As mentioned above those who are holding large inventory plus the hedge funds are slowly releasing their inventory in a controlled manner to maximize gains  to prevent a price collapse As interest rates rise prices will come down but it is a more normalized market then 2007-08

That's one of the tactics that contributed to the housing collapse.

I'll freely admit that I did not foresee the extent of the recent collapse.

There will come a tipping point where it is no longer sustainable as a fiat currency and it will simply collapse and we will be faced with deflationary period.

In this case it sounds like it also needs to be a temporary structure and be designed in a way that allows for it to be modular and/or collapsible.

After taking a few years away from my studies (graduated 2 months before Lehman Brothers collapsed so real estate industry was put on hold), I've decided to start investing and putting my income from my internet businesses into property.The last 5 years I've owned a restaurant, worked for Disney, sold cruises, and have been doing internet marketing since Summer 2008.I'm looking to pick up 2-4 unit properties and, if possible, live in one of the units.

If your building survives, but all the surrounding ones collapse, demand to rent in your area will decrease, and rents will drop (for a while, not forever).If you're considering a three story tuck-under (that is, a building with parking stalls on the first floor and then 2 stories of living space above) and plan to hold it a while, do not buy without a plan to retrofit, which will cost a pretty penny.Single story ranch style home from the 1960s? 

Curious how it affects it or masks it......standing water in the attic, collapsed ceiling etc...

As prices collapse in LA, people may well move back.So, I really think you have to try to understand your local market, and what's driving it.